Links of interest.

Adam Spring

adamspring.co.uk/blog/

Production examples of face shapes and blend shape workflows. In-depth coverage of Simplex 3.0 as a shape management system.

Vincent Touache

vincent-touache.com/tutos.php

Tutorials on advanced rigging systems and technical setups. Practical, well-documented tips and tricks.

Loïc Pinsard

loic-pinsard.com/

Articles on Python for Maya, rigging pipelines, and programming concepts. Good mix of technical depth and hands-on craft.

Dilen Shah

www.dilenshah.com/blog

Accessible introduction to the Maya API and USD pipelines. A solid starting point for anyone getting into TD tooling.

Bram Van Rompuy

articles.bramvanrompuy.be/

Articles on agentic AI workflows inside DCCs like Maya. Covers the emerging intersection of VFX tooling and machine learning.

Mateusz Matejczyk

www.matejczyktd.com/arc

ARC: a nodal rigging system for complex creature rigs. Strong reference for modular rig architecture and non-linear build pipelines.

Yantor 3D

yantor3d.wordpress.com/

Deep technical articles on Maya scripting, USD authoring, Qt, and pipeline development. Strange and clever rigging tricks throughout.

Niels Kleinheinz

kleinhei.nz/tutorials/

Technical rigging tutorials focused on the low-level mechanics. Good reference for evaluators, constraints, and rig architecture.

Guido González

guidogonzalezc.github.io/blog.html

Hands-on technical rigging articles and experiments. Covers practical approaches to common rigging challenges.

Vaishak P

vaishakp.com/

Technical posts on custom Maya deformers, rigging tools, Bifrost compounds, and PySide/Qt development. Strong pipeline and tooling focus.

Zhi Shangdi

blog.l0v0.com/

Personal blog documenting a journey through the VFX industry. Honest writing about the craft, the learning process, and working in production.

Jeremy Ernst

www.jeremyernst.com/devblog

Rigging and skinning techniques across Maya and Unreal Engine. Covers the ARTv2 toolset, facial deformation layering, and game engine pipelines.

Chris Lesage

rigmarolestudio.com/blog/

Rigging articles covering face rigging, matrix pinning, curve interpolation, and Python scripting. Practical solutions to specific rig problems.

3D Figgins

www.3dfiggins.com/Resources/

Rigging tips written from an animator's perspective. IK setups, weight painting, corrective joints, and mocap integration with a focus on what animators actually need.

Cult of Rig

www.cultofrig.com/

Deep-dive series on building high-performance rigs from first principles. Covers graph theory, math, CS fundamentals, anatomy, and kinesiology: the why behind every technique, not just the how.

Drago Avdalovic

creativerigs.com/

Production facial deformation system exportable to game engines. Strong reference for building scalable face rigs that work across film and real-time pipelines.

Mocappys

mocappys.com/

Tutorials and courses on motion capture and MotionBuilder editing. Covers the full pipeline from raw mocap cleanup to production-ready animation, including MetaHuman integration and game engine workflows.

Sergio Jiménez

sjdproduction.com/

Clear thinking on how 3D productions should be structured and managed. A useful reference for the production and pipeline side of VFX.

Toni Susin (UPC)

web.mat.upc.edu/toni.susin/publicacions.html

Publications on computer graphics, character animation, and simulation. A solid academic reference for deformation theory and skin simulation research.

UCL Geometry Processing

geometry.cs.ucl.ac.uk/publications.php

Research publications on geometry processing, shape analysis, and motion capture data. Particularly strong on surface reconstruction and deformation from recordings.

ExoTools

www.exotools.net/products

Cutting-edge rigging products built for studio pipelines. Pushes well beyond what standard DCCs offer out of the box.

Touch Pose

store.squarebitstudios.com/

Maya plugin for animating directly on the character mesh. Select, touch, and pose without going through traditional control picking workflows.

Simplex

github.com/blurstudio/Simplex

Cross-platform blendshape management system. Handles complex shape combos, in-betweens, spline interpolation, and FACS setups. Python-based, stores data as structured Alembic caches.

jQuadCloth

jacopos.gumroad.com/l/Qeoz?layout=profile

Maya tool that automatically retopologizes Marvelous Designer cloth output into clean quad meshes. Saves significant manual cleanup time.

Soup

soup-dev.com/products.html

Collection of Maya plugins predating Bifrost: procedural data generators, VDB support, math nodes, and a MEL-based rigging system. Still full of interesting plugin architecture ideas.

Node Editor Plus

github.com/rijahkaz/node_editor_plus

Open-source Maya plugin that extends the Node Editor with bookmarks, notes, and improved navigation. A clear example of how to make the node graph more UX-friendly.

ARKit Blendshapes Guide

pooyadeperson.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-creating-arkits-52-facial-blendshapes/?utm_source=from_sarge_with_love

Step-by-step guide to building all 52 ARKit facial blendshapes. Covers shape definitions, naming conventions, and production workflow.

Dynamic Digital Radiography

healthcare.konicaminolta.us/radiography/dynamic-digital-radiography-ddr

Live X-ray footage of the body in motion. Invaluable reference for understanding how bones, joints, and soft tissue behave dynamically during movement.